Like the majority of Americans, I like fast food. I don't eat it every day, but I do eat it more than I should. A refresher for those of you who haven't seen the movie in a while: Spurlock ate McDonald's for every meal for a month. He had to have everything on the menu once. If they asked him, "would you like to supersize that?" he had to answer yes. In the process, he gained 24.5 lbs (11.1kg), his cholesterol went from a very healthy 168 to 240 (!), his liver profile showed signs of encroaching liver failure, he started spilling protein into his urine, and he experienced decreased energy, depression, lowered sex drive, and general ickiness.
Another disturbing part of the film was how fast food companies and lobbying groups grab our children's focus from the time they are wee ones so that fast food becomes a regular part of their lives and one they crave. In one scene, none of the children could identify a picture of Jesus, but all of them knew who Ronald McDonald was. Brand imprinting and loyalty lobbying is scary stuff and adversely affects the health of our families.
After watching "Supersize Me" I made a series of resolutions. First, when I take William out to eat I will look for restaurants with healthier food choices. The other day we went to Panera. On my little town, the only healthy fast food we have is Chipotle. Guess we'll be eating a lot of burritos.
Second, and I'm not sure how this is going to happen, meal toys have got to go. Rewarding a child for eating chicken nuggets and french fries has always seemed all higgeldy piggeldy to me. Instead, why don't we reward kids for trying new, healthy things? I gave William a Hot Wheels car when he tried apples. He didn't like them (it happened to be a REALLY sour apple), but he tried it. Then again, I can't bribe my kid to try all of his food, so again, I'll have to think this one out.
Third, when I cook I've got to go old school and get away from prepackaging or at least cut down on it. It's easier to cook with prepacked stuff, but it's not as healthy.
Fourth, "meat and two veg" is going to be my new mantra. This isn't going to be the easiest because there is very little meat that this family likes (we love beef, you'd think we were cattle ranchers), so on a lot of days, this will turn into "legume, grain, and two veg." To that end, when I do buy meat I will buy grain fed, antibiotic free, free range meat. Have you noticed how horrifying chicken tastes these days? I suppose if you live in a cage that you couldn't move in eating your own excrement and were pumped full of antibiotics constantly you'd taste bad, too. Fortunately, we live near a lot of Amish people so Amish free range chicken isn't hard to come buy, but it is a wee bit pricey.
Why is it that we have to spend more money to eat well? Why is it that Panera is SO much more expensive than McDonald's? It's not that eating healthier is really all that more difficult, but it does cost more.
So there you go. I've got my subscription to Taste of Home on my Nook and I'm going to see if they have any other healthy cooking with normal food magazines available. No braised baby sweetbreads with capers and cilantro (wouldn't that be terrible?!) for this family, this Bon Appetite is out.
8 comments:
LOL yes I was quite horrified when I watched it too!! It definitely made a huge difference on how we look at things. Then I started watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and I was sold. We do still eat junk food and fast food on occasion but our eating habits have changed drastically.
that very movie changed the way we eat! another eye opening flick about food is "food inc."
yeah for new gadgets!
happy new year erin!
xo
katie
Just followed on GFC from Tribe.
If you had this much of a reaction from Supersize Me, you should try watching Food Inc! You'll start to wonder what there is left to eat!
What a fun gift. I agree about it costing to much to eat better. Helping change that would be a big help in cutting the obseisty rate in the US.
Dimple Restaurant offers one of the best Healthy Fast Food in New Jersey. Dimple Restaurant rate of the top 10 quickly food eating places in the United States on the foundation its efforts to provide wholesome food taste
healthy fast food
Interesting post. We've never eaten fast food, I think I would actually find it more expensive to feed the whole family fast food (McDonalds) then to cook meat and two veg from scratch........it's something my grandparents and my parents always did and the way I was brought up I suppose, besides there are a few allergies in the family..........nuts, wheat and gluten, so it's much easier for me to cook meals myself than to take a
risk that I may have to whip out the epipen and have a trip to A&E with my nut allergic daughter.
I've not seen the 'Supersize Me' movie but I can imagine what the consequences would be from eating nothing but a fast food diet.
Happy New Year Erin!
xo
katie
There is so much in this post that I want to comment on! First, I saw on another blog a photo of plastic McDonald's nuggets and fries for sale as children's toys! Talk about marketing fast food to kids! Second, healthy eating doesn't need to be expensive. If your family aren't especially fond of meats, I'd suggest you check out some yummy recipes for beans. Dried legumes need only be soaked in water overnight before cooking and are dirt cheep.....just a suggestion.
Post a Comment